Time To Stop
by JustClem
Summary: Coco was working non-stop again, and Velvet was going to make sure she didn't let the leader get carried away.


"Coco…"

The fashion-loving girl didn't hear her. Or if she did, she chose not to pay any mind.

Velvet pouted. Her ears flattening. She hated it when her girlfriend was acting like this. She knew the girl didn't mean to ignore her. She knew the girl was just too invested in her work. But sometimes, she just couldn't help it.

"Coco." The rabbit-faunus tried again.

And, again, her team leader kept switching from scribbling in her notebook, to muttering incoherent things while biting her pen, to reading one of the many books she borrowed from the library.

It was fascinating to see, really.

Whenever Coco was working, she would let nothing distract her.

When Velvet found out about this, she was very awestruck to see her being able to finish a 5-page long complicated essay in less than thirty minutes.

But she soon found out that every gift came with a curse.

And Coco's curse was that of going in too deep in her work that she forgot about everything. About her friends. About her own girlfriend. Even about eating and getting a well-rested sleep.

"Coco Adel!" she shouted, her voice resonating throughout their dorm room. The shout snapped the tired girl from her deep work-trance of sorts as she dropped her pen from shock and turned to look at the brunette.

"What?! What is it, Velvs?" Coco asked, her visible wide chocolate-brown eyes inspecting the bunny's body and clothing, searching for any signs of injuries.

Velvet was, for a second, flattered at her girlfriend's unhidden worry for her.

"How long have you been doing that?" If Coco were wearing her glasses, Velvet would've missed the frown of confusion etched on her face.

"How long have I doing… what?" the girl asked, genuinely confused, cocking her head to the side.

 _Dust, she is so adorable sometimes,_ Velvet thought, holding back a squeal.

"That!" Velvet gestured with her arms. "Doing whatever it is that you're doing!" She pondered for a little while before asking, "What are you even doing, exactly?"

Coco gave her a glare of annoyment. "Isn't it obvious, Bunbun?" she said, detachedly. "I'm working."

"But we don't have any homeworks," Velvet reasoned. And even if they did, Coco would've already made sure every member of her team had finished it the day before.

Coco scoffed, snapping her chin upwards. "I'm not talking about that stuff, I'm talking about actual work, as in, 'team leader' business."

Velvet simply stared at her for a few seconds with a look of bewilderment.

"Like…?"

"Like figuring out more combos we can use to defeat Grimm," Coco explained with an eye-roll, as if it was the most obvious statement.

Velvet gave her a look of absolute shock.

"But we just practised that last week!" she argued, voice rising as worry started growing.

Last week indeed, Coco came to their dorm from the library with her notebook, announcing they'd be going to the gym to practise more team attacks.

It had became a habit in Team CFVY.

Once every month, Coco would tell them to test out the movements she'd came up.

It was always original, creative, and deadly effective.

Most of these attacks were almost a complete success. And if some of them didn't succeed, Coco would try to find out what caused it to fail, then modify it, and ask them to do the movements that she'd fixed.

Everytime Coco came up with a new move, it was always brilliant, in Velvet's opinion.

And most agree with her.

Glynda Goodwitch had praised Coco for her astonishing ability for being able to think outside the box, and set her as an example of what a team leader should look like.

Even Professor Ozpin - the headmaster of Beacon Academy himself - knew of the great skills of Coco and her team, which was why, unfortunately, they were sent to more dangerous missions.

Sometimes, other students would come and watch them as they practised their moves. Especially Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc, the two respectable leaders of RWBY and JNPR.

But even with all the praise she received, Velvet always wondered why Coco never seemed proud of herself, even when others were proud of her.

"Yeah…" Coco's voice snapped her back to reality. "But last time, I only covered some attacks we could use on Grimms like Beowulves and Nevermores."

Velvet could hear in the tone of her voice, the genuine fear Coco experienced as her worries grew darker and darker as she continued, "What if we fought an aquatic Grimm?! You _know_ how big those Grimms are, Velvs, I can't afford to- I need to be prepared. I- I don't want anything to happen to you guys."

Coco's rambling struck a chord in Velvet's heart.

She was afraid.

She was afraid something would happen to her team - to her friends. Too afraid to let herself relax and enjoy herself for one single day.

Velvet let out a sigh.

Despite her over-the-top choice of clothes and the cool and impolite way she acted, Coco was, by all means, far from a bad team leader. In fact, if someone were to take a closer look, they'd realise just how much of a good person she truly was.

Coco was a hard-working girl, both in terms of education and fightings. She always took her team to go and practice their team dynamics twice every week.

Whenever one of her member had trouble with anything - ranging from girl problems to not understanding one of the subjects in studies, she was always willing to do whatever she could to fix those problems for them.

Coco was also very understanding. If someone told her that they needed to talk, she was willing to listen. If that person told her that they needed some space and didn't want to talk to anyone. Coco was willing to give that space while also still giving them comfort.

The fashionista had given Velvet those comforts many times, due to her being constantly bullied because of her faunus heritage.

It was amazing how perceptive Coco secretly could be. Even when Velvet tried to hide it, the girl still saw through her mask.

But Coco never questioned. She knew.

And she tried many things to cheer the bunny up in subtly adorable ways.

Like, one time she'd went out of her way to make carrot soup for their dinner, announcing that they needed to be able to see better if they were to fight or study.

Fox was not happy when he woke up the next day still being blind, especially since he hated vegetables.

Or that other time where she took Velvet to the mall and forced her to try on outfits she thought would look cute on Velvet, which were basically every clothes, because, as Coco had said it, "Anything looks good on my Velvet~!"

The list went on: Dragging Velvet into a weapon's store, buying them tickets to a romantic movie - even though Coco hated those movies, even helping Velvet tinker with her weapon.

There were so much more. It was endless.

And everytime Coco had made those gestures, she always acted like it was no big deal and it was all merely a big coincidence.

Even if no one believed her.

Even if her team already knew how deeply she cared for them.

So, to Velvet, it was very heart-wrenching to see the girl working non-stop in a day where students were supposed to take a break from studying.

Even now, she was already back on her work. Fiddling with her pen, muttering things Velvet could never understand as she counted with her free finger.

"Coco, it's a Sunday," she persuaded, "why don't you relax for just one day?"

"I can't do that," Coco muttered weakly. Velvet wasn't sure she'd be able to hear it if not for her large bunny ears.

"Why?" Velvet tried to coax out. Coco didn't answer, making her heave a sigh.

Velvet stood up from her bed and walked towards the busy brunette. Coco didn't even notice her presence, still muttering things that included the words "damage" and "risks."

Then, she wrapped her arms around Coco's neck, pulling her into an embrace, doing it slowly as to not startle her.

She felt Coco's lungs heaving as she let out a breath, stopping her scribbling and muttering, only to ask, "What is it, Velvy?"

"I want to cuddle," Velvet said, using the sweetest, most childish voice she could let out, knowing that it was one of the few things Coco could never resist.

"Then… do it?" Sometimes it amazed the bunny-girl how dense her girlfriend could be when she was overworking herself.

"No one can cuddle alone! I want you to cuddle with me!" she demanded.

Slowly, Coco tilted her head to look at her. Velvet couldn't see her face that well, but judging by the way she numbly asked "... Why?" she had a few guesses.

"Because I want you to?" Velvet shrugged, not really questioning her logic. After all, should she even have a reason to want to cuddle her own girlfriend?

Velvet felt another sigh coming out of her girlfriend, shoulders dropping. "Look, Cutie, I know you think I'm being too hard on myself here, but I gotta do this. I'm a- I'm a leader, it's different for me, I have responsibilities to make sure none of you'll get hurt when we're out there… I have to make sure nothing happens to you guys… Okay?"

Velvet was taken aback by her words.

She wanted - _really_ wanted - to tell Coco not to worry about this and just rest... But she knew that'd be selfish of her.

She was torn between being a good teammate and understanding her leader's wishes, or, being a good girlfriend and taking care of her when she couldn't take care of herself.

It took her awhile before she finally responded, and when she did, she knew she was going to regret it.

"...Fine."

She could feel Coco smiling tiredly. The leader nuzzled her head onto the girl's arms, sighing contently. "Thanks, Bun Bun," she said, planting a short sweet kiss on her palm.

Slowly, and reluctantly, she let go of the girl, but not before asking, "Promise you won't overwork yourself?"

"I promise" was all Velvet needed to hear to let the girl be.

Velvet went back into her bed and started to read her weapon's magazine. Every once in a while, she stole a few glances towards the girl who she loved.

The girl she knew was going to break the promise she had made.

* * *

"Coco…"

She ignored the call. Her work was too important; she was finally in the brink of figuring out how to use Yatsuhasi's big sword to cut off an aquatic grimm without endangering him.

She could feel it.

She was as close as the distance between her two fingers.

"Coco!"

She resisted the urge to flinch at the tone of her angry girlfriend's tone and continued calculating the exact maximum size of the aquatic grimm that Yatsu could slice off.

She just needed a little more time. She just needed to do a few more calculations. She just… she was close.

"Coco~!"

It was a child-like whine this time. One that melted her heart instantly.

"I thought you were gonna take it easy!"

The designer did her best to ignore it, even though she could feel the bunny's angry glare towards her.

"...Fine!"

Coco gulped. What did she mean by that? Was she giving up in trying to tell her to stop working too much, because if so, then that was good.

But… what if she was mad? What if Velvet didn't want to talk to her anymore? What if they were breaking u-

 _BZZT!_

 _BZZT!_

 _BZZT!_

Coco looked down on the scroll placed on her desk, where it was shown that there were three new messages.

She opened it.

"... Velvet, Sweetheart, did you really just send me a text, all in caps lock, saying 'get some rest', even though we're literally only five feet apart from each other?"

She looked over towards her girlfriend's bed, where she saw Velvet, grinning in triumph, sitting cross-legged, scroll in arms, held proudly, as if it was a cure to a rare disease.

If this was a different situation, Coco would've made a comment about how cute Velvet's smile was.

"Yep!" Velvet said, the 'p' popping, providing no more explanations.

"O… kay," she said suspiciously, turning her attention back to her notes.

Using her scroll, she calculated how much force should Fox use to be able to jump, and if he could use his weapons to get more boost-

 _BZZT!_

Coco gritted her teeth. "Honey, could you please stop doing that?" she sighed.

"Nope!" A cheerful voice, with another 'p' popping.

Coco sighed and continued using her scroll to calculate and jotting those numbers down on her notebook.

At first, the buzzing was easy to ignore. But then those short messages turned to incoming calls from Velvet.

At one point, Velvet even got Yatsuhasi and - for some reason, Fox as well - to start texting her too.

Afterwards, _they_ started calling her as well!

But… She wasn't a team leader for nothing. She'd been dealing with these three little pests for the past two years. She, at this point, had mastered the art and technique of composure and calmness.

...Okay, she growled when she heard another buzz, but how could she not?

"Is something wrong, Coco?" her traitorous girlfriend questioned in a sweetly, sickeningly, innocent voice.

An invisible light-bulb flickered on her head. Without saying a word, she turned off her damn scroll and threw it on her bunk, briefly glancing at her girlfriend's surprised face.

"Yes, BunBun, everything's just fine."

She knew that, by throwing away her scroll, she'd have to do double the work.

Yet she still did it anyways.

She was up for the risk.

* * *

"We're back from the best ramen shop in Remnant!" the blind boy announced as he confidently walked into the room, a bigger, heavier footsteps following him from behind, no doubt belonging to the other male member of the team, especially since Fox could still sense the lingering smell of noodles from his breath.

However, he frowned when he heard the scratching sound of pen meeting paper. His frown creased even more when, even after seconds ticked by, he didn't hear any response coming from the two girls that were, judging by his sense of smell and hearing, no doubt in the room.

"Oy, boss," he called out, "what're you writing?"

"Just some work," Coco replied briefly.

Fox frowned at that tone of voice. It sounded like she was tired. And what did she mean by work? This was Sunday, why would she be working on a Sunday?

He swallowed a lump in his throat when he realised what Coco was doing, and what Coco had definitely been doing for a while, and what she absolutely intended to do for the next hours.

After all, it was no secret that his team leader was a workaholic.

"She's been like this for the past two hours," he heard the downcast voice belonging to none other than Velvet.

He walked towards his bed, mentally counting his steps, and sat down a bit warily. Once he was sure there was no sharp object or creasy papers in his mattress, he flopped down, becoming one with the mattress itself, letting out a breath of relaxation.

"Leader," he heard the deep voice of Yatsuhasi. "Rest is beneficial for you, now more than ever."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be sure to do that," their leader replied automatically, not really meaning her words.

Fox heard Velvet let out a breath. He frowned at that, knowing that the bunny faunus must've tried many attempts to get Coco to rest.

Heck, he thought that after Velvet had convinced them both to call her, Coco would finally snap out of workaholic-ness.

It seemed that his guess was - unfortunately - wrong.

"Don't worry, Velvet," he said with a reassuring smile. "I'm sure she'll get some nap eventually."

He heard another, much softer sigh. "Yeah, you're right." She sounded weak, but hopeful.

It was good enough for him.

So, he picked up his headphones and began to listen to some music, knowing it'd take his mind off his problems.

* * *

"Aren't you going to sleep?" Velvet asked, her eyes briefly wandering towards the window, where the cool black night sky presented itself, replacing the warm light blue of the afternoon hours ago.

"Yeah, in a minute." _That_ didn't sound even the slightest bit convincing. And it was starting to make Velvet just a little angry.

"You said that two hours ago!"

Coco leaned back onto her chair, massaging her temples, letting out a hiss of pain either coming from her head, a migraine undoubtedly forming, or her stiff shoulders and arms, from her position… probably both.

It seemed that, after all these hours of endless work, she finally took a break. As small as that break might be.

"Look, Honeybuns, don't you think it's a little early to be in bed? It's like, what, 5 PM?"

Velvet gaped at her.

"It's 11 PM!" the bunny faunus shrieked, disbelieving that her girlfriend lost track of time.

"What?!" Velvet gaped even harder at her girlfriend's shout of pure shock, if that was possible. "Since when?!"

 _Okay,_ she told herself willingly. _This has gone too far._

Velvet walked towards her. "Coco." The girl looked up at her with a frown of dazed confusion. "Look at the clock. It's _late_." Velvet showed the time from her scroll, and watched as the leader slowly processed the information.

"Wow, looks like… looks like it is late, isn't it, Velvy?" she said, suppressing a yawn.

Velvet looked at her with a mixture of worry, disappointment, and shock.

"How on Remnant can you not know that it is night!?"

"Hey, shh," Coco put her index finger on her own mouth, biting her lip. "Fox and Yatsu are asleep, keep it down."

" _No_ , they're not," Velvet quickly countered, hissing.

"What?" Coco rubbed her eyes and looked back up at her again. Velvet could see how truly tired she was based on her look, but knew that it'd be useless if she tried to point it out.

"The boys are having a sleepover at JNPR's room tonight," she said truthfully. Perhaps if she couldn't persuade the girl into taking a rest, she could show her how much she needed it.

Coco blinked in disbelief. "Really?"

Velvet nodded grimly. "Yes, they asked for your permission, and you _let them_."

Coco blinked again. A frown creasing her features. "I… did?"

Velvet nodded, not wanting to waste her breath.

Coco opened her mouth to say something, but she held up a hand. "Save it. Whatever it is you're going to say, whatever promises you want to make, don't." She let out a shuddering breath. "You're only going to break them."

"Velvs…"

The bunny rabbit turned her back against her. "Just… just don't stay up too late, alright?"

"... Alright."

Velvet knew Coco didn't mean that.

So she took an action. Instead of going to bed, she elected to start reading one of the action comics little Ruby had recommended to her.

She could feel Coco's lingering gaze at her, and pretended not to notice, gluing her eyes onto the page.

"Velvet…" Coco said slowly, hesitantly. "Aren't you going to sleep?"

"Aren't you?" she snapped back, perhaps a little too harshly.

"But, I-" She stopped mid-sentence, possibly contemplating on what she should actually say, before finally sighing. "Nevermind…"

Velvet bit her lip. Sure, she was angry at her girlfriend for always worrying her by working too hard, but the bottomline was, Coco only did it because she felt like it was the best for everyone… everyone except herself.

"There's a difference between being selfless and not caring about yourself, you know," Velvet said, watching Coco's posture stiffen. "I know you care about us, but we care about you too… I care about you…" that last part was spoken more softly.

"So," she said, sounding resolute, leaving no room for argument. "I won't go to sleep until you do."

Coco looked distressed, even from this distance. Velvet wished deeply that her girlfriend would relent. But, her hope was erased when she heard a simple "I'm sorry" coming from her girlfriend. "But I need to do this, this is important."

Coco's voice… it sounded so hurt… so broken… so scared… Velvet wanted to do nothing more than to pull her into an embrace and told her everything was fine.

Instead, she sat there, frozen like a statue, biting her lip, silently whispering, "Coco…" as if calling her name would make her stop doing this to herself.

But reality was just too harsh to let her one small wish to come true.

Coco kept writing. And, eventually, Velvet stopped staring at her as if she was going to stand up and announce that she was heading to bed at any second.

I hate it when she does this to herself… How could she? It's not fair! It's not fair that she treats everyone so well yet she… It's like it doesn't even concern her whether or not she'll be happy…

She… she cares too much about us to care about herself… Why…? Why is she like that?

She kept rambling towards herself, not really paying attention to anything, not until she felt something on her cheek. Wiping it, her mouth opened when she realised she'd been crying.

Maybe ten minutes had passed. Maybe thirty. Maybe one full-hour had passed: Velvet didn't know.

Something else caught her attention.

Deep, slow, steady breaths.

When she realised whose breath it belonged to, Velvet looked at her girlfriend.

A small smile curled at the sight of Coco, dozing off soundlessly, surrounded by all those books.

She walked towards the girl and said more so to herself, "Oh, Coco… what am I going to do with you?"

Any anger and frustrations she had against Coco - well, it was mostly against the world - vanished and were forgotten.

Now, her main objective was to get her slumbering girlfriend back to the comfortable mattress.

Gently, she tapped the girl's shoulders, leaning in to whisper directly in her ear, "Hey… hey, Coco…"

A small, but noticeable frown formed on the unconscious girl. She mumbled something in her sleep, but showed no clear signs of waking up.

"C'mon, Coco, we gotta get you to bed," she tried to reason, but to no avail.

Velvet bit her lip. She didn't want to wake up her girlfriend because she knew that either she was going to have to deal with a very angry Coco or that Coco would only want to continue with her work, no matter how tired they both knew she was.

"You made me do this" was all the bunny girl said before she gently pulled Coco into a bridal-carry.

Previously, she thought that Coco might wake up from the sudden movement. But, in fact, it almost did the opposite.

Coco, snoring softly, buried her face onto her collarbone, moaning lightly. It made Velvet blush, even though it wasn't sexual in any way.

She put the girl in her bed, tucking her in, and she was about to leave when she felt her hand being gently held by sleeping beauty.

"Velvs… will…"

The bunny rabbit rose her eyebrow. She knew that Coco must be dreaming, but she was curious as to what her dream was about when it involved her.

So, she leaned in and answered in a whisper, "Yes, Coco?"

"Will… you… marry… me…?"

Velvet's cheeks turned into the darkest shade of red there was.

She swallowed a lump in her throat before letting out a deep breath. She was not at all calm, but she could at least try not to faint.

"I…" She looked down at the sleeping girl, and a smile, naturally, formed on her face.

 _Oh, who am I kidding?_ She told herself.

"I'll do it in a heartbeat," she said, bringing Coco's arm and planting a kiss on it, before slowly prying it into letting go. "All you have to do is ask," she finished before returning into her own bed, shutting her eyes.

Even though Velvet did just speak with her girlfriend in her unconscious state, it didn't mean what she say wasn't the truth.

* * *

 **Author's Notes : So, quick confession, I am in love with Crosshares right now! It's like my side-OTP that could've been my main OTP if the show gave them more screen time.**

 **I just love the way Velvet and Coco complimented each other. They really do complete each other in ways that almost no other ships can't.**

 **Then, a friend of mine, whose name is RyuNoMe24 brought up this ship, and we discussed about why this ship has little to no recognition in the fanbase.**

 **And then I thought, "Hey… why don't I write a fanfiction about this?" And a few hours later, BAM! This appears…**

 **I hope you like it! And be sure to read other stories about this ship as well. I promise you that this ship is actually really amazing. It's like, I think the best way to describe it is a mixture of Bumblebee and WhiteRose.**

 **Like, Coco is like a mixture of Weiss and Yang, while Velvet's of Blake and Ruby.**

… **So, um… I hope you like this. Tell me what you think of it, I'd love to hear your thoughts about both this story and the ship itself! Have a nice day and goodbye!**


End file.
